Memory Stimulation Device and Method of Use

ABSTRACT

A memory stimulation device and a method of using the same, the memory stimulation device may be based around forming one or more recognizable codes such as postal codes. The memory stimulation device may include a card with more than one defined area including a first area with a perforated matrix. The perforated matrix may define a plurality of sections. The sections may each include a letter, which may be a single letter from the English alphabet, and a number, which may be a natural number, displayed on a first surface of each section. An instruction area may be provided adjacent to the first area and may include a graphic of itemized instructions on how to use the memory stimulation device. An advertizing area may be provided adjacent to the instruction area. The advertizing area may include a printable area on which advertizing space may be used.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION DATA

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 16/044,825 filed on Jul. 25, 2018, which priority is claimed under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/762,201, filed on Apr. 5, 2018, which is incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to memory stimulation devices, and more particularly, to games designed to stimulate short term and long term memory in the user.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Entertainment has been a part of society from the beginning. Most games are intended for entertainment purposes only. Some are intended to teach the user a skill. Some tools to stimulate the memory of a user may be disguised as games in order to increase the availability of the memory device to the user. No device that is intended to accomplish any task is of any value if it is not used.

Board games, so called because of the incorporation of a game board on which the game was played, achieved particular popularity in the mid to late 20^(th) century. The game board provided a flat surface on which to display, move or locate game pieces or instructions. Given that board games are widely understood and accepted as a form of entertainment, a board game may be a likely platform to base a memory stimulation device around.

Traditional board games require a physical board that usually includes multi-color printing to instruct the users on how to play the game as well as to identify locations on the board for the placement of game pieces of various type and construction. These game pieces may include molded plastic identifiers to represent a particular user, instruction cards, simulated money and other placeholders of simulated game success, such as hotels in the game of Monopoly. Each one of these parts may require specific tooling and manufacturing costs, assembly costs, packaging costs and high distribution costs to get the game in the hands of potential game users. A more complex gaming system such as this also offers inherent problems in that it may be difficult to travel with such a game as it may take up a significant amount of space in order to play the game and if one or more of the game pieces are lost, the usefulness of the game may be significantly compromised.

It should, therefore, be appreciated that there is a need for a memory stimulation device that may be produced in the form of a board game. This memory stimulation device may provide stimulation of both long term and short term memory. The memory stimulation device may be produced at a cost such that the device may be given away for the advantage of providing advertizing space on some of the gaming pieces. The present invention fulfills this need and others.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention may include a memory stimulation device with a card including more than one defined area including a first area with a perforated matrix. The perforated matrix may define a plurality of sections, the sections may each include a letter, which may be a single letter from the English alphabet, and a number, which may be a natural number, displayed on a first surface of each section. An instruction area may be provided adjacent to the first area and may include a graphic of itemized instructions on how to play the game. An advertizing area may be provided adjacent to the instruction area. The advertizing area may include a printable area on which advertizing space may be used to market a product.

The memory stimulation device may further include one or more sections as wild cards, wherein no number or letter is displayed on the first surface of the section other than the phrase “wild card”. On the back of one or more of the sections, called a second surface, opposite to the first surface of each section, may display a second advertizing area to market a product. A cover area may be positioned adjacent to the instruction area, the cover area may also include a third advertizing area.

The card of the memory stimulation device may be manufactured of a cardstock of a thickness between 0.010 inches and 0.018 inches. Alternatively, the plurality of sections of the card may be a graphic displayed on an electronic device.

The memory stimulation device may also include a method of playing a game including providing the elements of the game as previously disclosed and include the steps of separating each section from each adjacent section by applying pressure to the perforated matrix, thus creating a plurality of individual sections. Passing the individual sections out randomly to users such that the first surface of each section is face down. Placing a first section in a communal location with the first surface facing up, revealing the letter and number displayed on the first surface of the section. Placing a second section in the communal location with the first surface facing up, the second section positioned adjacent to the first section such that the combination of the letter on the first section and the letter on the second section display a recognizable code, such as a postal code. Then, adding the numbers on the first surface of the first section and the first surface of the second section together to get a score.

For purposes of summarizing the invention and the advantages achieved over the prior art, certain advantages of the invention have been described herein. Of course, it is to be understood that not necessarily all such advantages can be achieved in accordance with any particular embodiment of the invention. Thus, for example, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention may be embodied or carried out in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage or group of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving other advantages as may be taught or suggested herein.

All of these embodiments are intended to be within the scope of the invention herein disclosed. These and other embodiments of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description of the preferred embodiments and drawings, the invention not being limited to any particular preferred embodiment(s) disclosed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the following drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a memory stimulation device, presented in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of the reverse side of the memory stimulation device shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows a pair of sections with the first surface showing to form a single recognizable code.

FIG. 4 shows three sections with a pair of recognizable code combinations being displayed.

FIG. 5 shows four sections with three sets of recognizable code combinations being displayed.

FIG. 6 shows five sections with four sets of recognizable code combinations being displayed.

FIG. 7 is an electronic device with a display showing a card area and two electronic cards displayed in a play area, the two cards forming a single recognizable code.

FIG. 8 is the electronic device of FIG. 7, with the display showing a card moved from the card area in FIG. 7 and now displayed in a play area, the three cards forming two recognizable code combinations.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference to the illustrative drawings, and particularly to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, there is shown a memory stimulation device 10, produced in accordance with the present invention. As is shown, the memory stimulation device 10 may be constructed from a single card 12 including more than one defined area. One defined area may be a cover area 14, which may include the name 16 of the game, a graphic illustrating an example of how the memory stimulation device may be used 18, and an advertizing area in this disclosure referred to as a third advertising area 20.

Adjacent to the cover area 14 another defined area, an instruction area 22 may be provided. The instruction area 22 may include a detailed description on one or more ways in which to play the game. For the purposes of illustration, in these figures the instruction area 22 is shown to be blank, though it is understood in a full embodiment of the invention, the instruction area 22 may include a detailed description of one or more ways in which to play the game.

Adjacent to the instruction area 22 another defined area may include a first area 24. The first area 24 may be comprised of a plurality of sections 26. The plurality of sections 26 may include a perforated matrix 28. The perforated matrix 28 may therefore define the borders of each section 30 in the plurality of sections 26. Each section 30 may include a letter 32 displayed on a first surface 34 of each section 30. The letter 32 may be a single letter from the English alphabet. Also on the first surface 34 of a section 30, a number 36 may be located in one or more positions on the first surface 34. The number 36 may be a natural number, meaning a counting number, or non-negative integer excluding the number zero. In the preferred embodiment, the number 36 may be displayed in a smaller font as compared to the letter 32. One or more sections 30 may be designated as a wild card 37 in that no number 36 or letter 32 is displayed on the first surface 34 of that section 30, other than the phrase “wild card”.

Each section 30 may also include a second surface 38, which may be opposite of the first surface 34. On the second surface 34 of one or more of the sections 30 a logo or other advertising graphic may be provided, thus creating a second advertising area 40. In addition to the third advertising area 20 on the cover area 14, a primary, or first advertising area 42 may be positioned adjacent to the plurality of sections 26. The ability to provide advertising space, let alone a first advertising area 42, a second advertising area 40 a third advertising area 20 on a game device 10 opens the door to provide a unique advertising opportunity. Unlike a simple brochure or other commonly discarded form of print advertising, the game device 10 offers additional interest and therefore a more repetitive stimulus to the brain of a user of the game device 10 or anyone who observes the game device 10 compared to a common brochure or flyer.

It is widely accepted in the field of advertising that the more repetitive a stimulus is, the greater the chance that the recipient of that stimulus will respond and as such, become a potential customer to the one who is providing the advertising. This memory stimulation device 10, produced in accordance with the present invention, if it is played one time may likely provide a greater stimulus to a user or observer than several common printed brochures handed to the user. This may be due to not only providing numerous visual cues such as a logo, and website address, a product photo, or any similar advertising graphics in one or more of the advertizing areas (20, 40 or 42), with the memory stimulation device 10 the user or an observer would be more apt to be mentally aware of the advertizing or any visual stimulus due to the mental process involved with using the memory stimulation device 10 while concurrently being visually stimulated by the advertising.

A method of using the memory stimulation device 10 may include positioning the sections 30 with the first surface 34 facing up and therefore displaying the letters 32, such that two letter recognizable codes, such as postal codes, are potentially created. If postal codes are used for the recognizable codes, it may be desirable to provide a list of US postal codes and likewise international codes on the memory stimulation device 10. An example of how this may be located on the memory stimulation device 10 is shown in FIG. 2, wherein a postal code area 44 and an international code area 46 may be in a defined area adjacent to the first advertising area 42. It is understood that this exact layout is considered the preferred embodiment of the invention but this layout is by no means considered critical to the novelty of the invention. A list of the US postal codes is presented in the table below.

Code State Code State Code State Code State Code State AL Alabama AK Alaska AZ Arizona AR Arkansas CA California CO Colorado CT Connecticut DE Delaware FL Florida GA Georgia HI Hawaii ID Idaho IL Illinois IN Indiana IA Iowa KS Kansas KY Kentucky LA Louisiana ME Main MD Maryland MA Massachusetts NE Nebraska NV Nevada NH New NJ New Hampshire Jersey NM New Mexico NC North ND North NY New York OH Ohio Carolina Dakota OK Oklahoma OR Oregon PA Pennsylvania RI Rhode SC South Island Carolina SD South Dakota TN Tennessee TX Texas UT Utah VA Virginia VT Vermont WA Washington WI Wisconsin WV West WY Wyoming Virginia

The international codes are similar to the U.S. Postal Codes in that they are also two character designations. The international codes may also be called two letter country codes or more specifically ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes. Some of these International Codes are: US-United States; SE-Sweden; TW-Taiwan; PL-Poland; JP-Japan; IT-Italy; HK-Hong Kong; etc. The entire list is not necessary to show here as it can be found in the ISO 3166 Standard.

The ability of a user to identify specific letter combinations and organize them under a time constraint is mentally challenging. Any test, by the nature of the test, provides a degree of learning and increased skill over time by continued use. Whenever the game as presented herein by use of the memory stimulation device 10 is played, it is in fact a test of the user's ability to perform the visual and cognitive tasks required by the game. The score provides a quantitative analysis of that process that may be compared to the performance of other users or to previous times the game has been played by the same user. A higher score is a direct indicator of better performance. This quantitative analysis gives the process of playing the game a resultant outcome that is an evaluation of memory, visual recognition and physical dexterity provided by physically moving the card on the board or on a screen of an electronic device.

It is noted that many card based games provide some cognitive stimulation. It is suggested that the use of the memory stimulation device 10 goes beyond the prior art in several ways. First, the two character combinations designated by the recognizable codes or postal codes in the postal code area 44 are the shortest possible combination that can be made. This may be important because that sets a consistent general pattern to stimulate pattern recognition. Because all postal code combinations may have exactly two characters, the number of characters is not a distinguishing factor in the pattern recognition process. A child that is learning the postal codes of the United States by playing the game presented by the memory stimulation device 10 as presented may undergo a mental process of stimulating the pre-frontal lobe of their brain to identify these two-letter or two character combinations. This can start with the list that was provided in the table above or from practical application in looking on a map or the addresses on letters or packages sent through the postal service. That information may be repeatedly passed on to the hippocampus to eventually be stored in long-term memory. The pattern recognition may occur when this information is received by the short-term memory, which then may automatically activate this specific content in the long-term memory of the brain.

One primary advantage of specifically using postal codes as the recognizable codes, as these patterns, is that they are useful to know in life. Other examples may include the letter codes used to identify different elements found on the periodic table of elements. Any number or recognizable codes may be used. Also, older users already have many, if not all, of these codes imprinted as specific content in their long-term memory without additional memorization of game rules or otherwise useless information. This shortens the learning phase of the game, thus increasing the likelihood of playing the game as provided by the memory stimulation device 10. The process of scoring the results enables direct feedback of performance of that skill that is based solely on that skill, not luck, chance or timing as with many traditional games. Accurate scoring that is representative of the ability to perform the process provides a simulation of competition that also aids in the continued use of the process.

The shortened learning curve, by using postal codes that are already known by many people, playing the game as provided in use of the memory stimulation device 10 provides significant stimulation between the hippocampus and the pre-frontal lobe of users that may otherwise not be mature enough to follow complex rules and therefore not able to use a different memory stimulation product. The same is true for more mature individuals that may not remember other rules or methods of using a different memory stimulation product. By contrast, many very simple games or devices designed specifically for children offer very little short-term to long-term memory stimulation. This results in an adult user becoming quickly disinterested in playing the game or using the device that the child can play or use. More complicated games or other memory stimulation products made for adults have rules that are too complicated for younger users to understand or follow.

To use the memory stimulation device 10, one or more of the users may separate each section 30 from the adjacent sections 30 to provide a plurality of individual sections 30. The individual sections 30 may be randomly passed out to each of the users with the first surface 34 of each section 30 facing down, so that the letter 32 on each section 30 is not visible to the users. Prior to beginning, each user may turn over one of his sections 30 and place it in a discard area with the first surface 34 facing up.

A first user may then take a section 30 from the discard area and place it in a communal location or play area with the first surface 34 facing up, thus revealing the letter 32 of that section 30. That same user may have a time limit of thirty seconds in which to place a second section 30 adjacent to the previously presented section 30 in the common area such that the combination 48 of the letter 32 on each section 30 is consistent with a designated postal code or other recognizable code. An example of a two section 30 code combination is shown in FIG. 3. That user may then add together the numbers 36 on both sections 30 to get a score. In this example the numbers 3 and 2 add to a total of 5 points. If that user is not successful in forming a code within the thirty second time limit, that user must move the section 30 back to the discard area for the next user to attempt to create a code. If a user has a wild card 37 that card may be used to form a theoretical postal code, though no points may be added by the use of the wild card 37.

Referring to FIGS. 4-6, the process may continue such that no more than two sections 30 are in any row or column. When more than one combination is presented in the communal location, the score to the user who adds a section 30 to form a correct postal code or other recognizable code, will be the sum of the numbers 36 on each of the sections 26. For example, in FIG. 4, the score would be 3+2+7 or 12 points. In FIG. 5 the score would be 3+2+7+5 or 17 points and in FIG. 6 the score would be 3+2+7+5+4 or 21 points.

In today's world of technology, games and other learning activities may be performed on electronic devices 50 such as cell phones, tablets, computers and any other electronic device 50 with the display 52. In this environment the memory stimulation device 10 may also be played wherein the discard area 54 may be a partitioned area of the display 52. The sections 30 may be displayed in the discard area 54 and if the number of sections 30 is greater than what may be seen in the discard area 54 of the display 52 a slide button 56 may be dragged in one direction or the other resulting in scrolling the sections 30 in the allotted discard area 54 of the display 52. To move a section 30 into the communal location, or play area 58 of the display 52, a user may touch the area on the display 52 which shows the desired section 30 and drag that section 30 into the communal location, or play area 58. If the sections 30 are positioned in the communal location or play area 58 and in the proper orientation, the electronic device 50 may recognize a proper postal code and then award an appropriate score 60 on the display 52. Examples are shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8. This process may be repeated in similar fashion whether playing with physical sections 30 which were removed from a physical card 12, or a virtual section 30 as displayed on the electronic device 50.

The foregoing detailed description of the present invention is provided for purposes of illustration, and it is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the particular embodiment shown. The embodiments may provide different capabilities and benefits, depending on the configuration used to implement key features of the invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. The method of using a memory stimulus device comprising the steps of: providing a card including more than one defined area including a first area with a perforated matrix, the perforated matrix defining a plurality of sections, the sections each including a letter and a number displayed on a first surface of each section; providing an instruction area adjacent to the first area and including a graphic of itemized instructions on how to play the game; and providing an advertizing area adjacent to the instruction area; the advertizing area providing a printable area on which advertizing space may be used to market a product; separating each section from each adjacent section by applying pressure to the perforated matrix, thus creating a plurality of individual sections; passing the individual sections out randomly to players such that the first surface of each section is face down; placing a first section in a communal location with the first surface facing up, revealing the letter and number displayed on the first surface of the section; placing a second section in the communal location with the first surface facing up, the second section positioned adjacent to the first section such that the combination of the letter on the first section and the letter on the second section display a recognizable code; and adding the numbers on the first surface of the first section and the first surface of the second section together to get a score, thereby stimulating the short term memory of the user by visual recognition and long term memory of the user by recalling a recognized code.
 2. The method of using a memory stimulus device according to claim 1, adding the numbers on the first surface of the first section plus the first surface of the second section plus the first surface of the third section together to get a score.
 3. The method of using a memory stimulus device according to claim 1, further placing a fourth section in the communal location with the first surface facing up, the fourth section positioned adjacent to the third section such that the combination of the letter on the fourth section and the letter on the third section display a recognizable code and not more than two sections are sequentially positioned in the communal location.
 4. The method of using a memory stimulus device according to claim 3, wherein not more than two sections are sequentially positioned in any one direction in the communal location.
 5. The method of using a memory stimulus device according to claim 4, wherein adding the numbers on the first surface of the first section plus the first surface of the second section plus the first surface of the third section plus the first surface of the fourth section together to get a score.
 6. The method of using a memory stimulus device according to claim 4, further placing a fifth section adjacent to the fourth section.
 7. The method of using a memory stimulus device according to claim 6, wherein the fifth section is a wild card.
 8. The method of using a memory stimulus device according to claim 7, wherein adding the numbers on the first surface of the first section plus the first surface of the second section plus the first surface of the third section plus the first surface of the fourth section together to get a score.
 9. The method of using a memory stimulus device according to claim 1, wherein a player is unable to place a third section in the communal location with the first surface facing up, the third section positioned adjacent to the second section such that the combination of the letter on the second section and the letter on the third section display the recognizable code within a time limit is penalized.
 10. The method of using a memory stimulus device according the claim 9, wherein the recognizable code is a postal code.
 11. The method of using a memory stimulus device according to claim 10, wherein the postal code is a two character postal code.
 12. The method of using a memory stimulus device according to claim 9, wherein the time limit is thirty seconds.
 13. The method of using a memory stimulus device according to claim 1, wherein the recognizable code is a postal code.
 14. The method of using a memory stimulus device according to claim 13, wherein the postal code is a two character postal code. 